President Joe Biden urged Congress on Friday to support a bipartisan Senate deal that pairs border enforcement measures with aid for Ukraine.
House Speaker Mike Johnson expressed skepticism, suggesting the compromise on border and immigration policy could be "dead on arrival" in the House.
Biden urges Congress to embrace border bill. But House speaker suggests it may be 'dead on arrival' https://t.co/l75FOjFCB4
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Biden, a Democrat, stated late Friday that the proposed policies would constitute "the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border we’ve ever had in our country."
He also committed to using a new emergency authority to "shut down the border" as soon as the legislation could be enacted.
This bipartisan deal, which includes measures for both border enforcement and Ukraine aid, has become a focal point in the ongoing debate on immigration policies.
Senate Republicans initially insisted on incorporating border policy changes into Biden's $110 billion emergency funding request for Ukraine, Israel, immigration enforcement, and other national security needs.
The deal faced significant opposition from Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, who criticized it as a political "gift" to Democrats.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, voiced his alignment with hardline conservatives who oppose the compromise. In a letter to colleagues, Johnson indicated that leaked reports about the legislation would render it "dead on arrival in the House."
The Senate deal, currently in negotiations, aims to release text early next week. It includes measures to enact tougher standards on migrants seeking asylum and deny asylum applications at the border if daily migrant encounters reach unmanageable numbers.
Critics, particularly hardline conservatives, argue that the proposed measures do not go far enough to address immigration challenges.
If the deal collapses, it could impact the allocation of tens of billions of dollars for Ukraine, a top priority for Biden in countering Russian aggression. The Biden administration has run out of funds to send ammunition and missiles to Ukraine, creating urgency for a congressional decision.
The lead GOP negotiator in the border talks, Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, has urged lawmakers to withhold final judgment until they receive legislative text, emphasizing that some reports in conservative media are inaccurate depictions of the bill.
Johnson's skepticism extends to a sweeping set of immigration measures passed by the House last year, which failed to gain Democratic support. The Senate's handling of an immigration and Ukraine package could pose further challenges for Johnson, as he faces pressure from hardline conservatives opposed to any compromise on immigration policy.
